David Evans (The Apiarist) Bigger Queens, Better Queens

David Evans is Emeritus Professor of Virology in the School of Biology, University of St. Andrews. His research interests included the replication and evolution of human and animal viruses, and the biology and control of both Deformed wing virus (DWV) and Chronic bee paralysis virus (CBPV) of honey bees.
Research topics include:
• the evolution of RNA viruses
• replication of DWV in honey bees, Varroa and non-Apis pollinators
• rational Varroa control at the landscape scale
• the biology of CBPV, an emerging pathogen of honey bees
Studies of honey bee viruses involved collaborations with groups in the Universities of Aberdeen (Alan Bowman) and Newcastle (Giles Budge), with the Science and Advice Service for Scottish Agriculture (SASA), and with several beekeeping associations.
David held previous academic positions at the Universities of Reading, Glasgow and Warwick, conducting research on HIV, HCV and poliovirus with extensive grant support from UK Research Councils and charities. He published well over 100 peer-reviewed publications and supervised more than 30 PhD. students.
David is an enthusiastic beekeeper – an activity that pre-dates his research on honey bee viruses by several years – and a member of Fife Beekeepers, the East of Scotland BKA and Lochaber BKA. He runs about twenty colonies and is particularly interested in queen rearing and ‘pottering in the shed with bits of wood and a nail gun’.
His interest in DIY for beekeeping resulted in a regular column in the Warwick and Leamington Beekeepers newsletter Bee Talk which, over time, evolved into his personal beekeeping website The Apiarist. On this he covers topics as diverse as Varroa management, responsible mentoring, the price of honey and practical waspkeeping. New posts appear every Friday afternoon and he regularly discusses recent scientific advances on the biology of honey bees. The popularity of the website has resulted in numerous invitations to talk at local, national and international beekeeping meetings.
David now lives on the remote west coast of Scotland in one of the few remaining parts of mainland UK that is Varroa free.